[Leica] Film recorder services

[kcarney1 at cox.net (Ken Carney)]

Howard,

My only experience has been using an imagesetter for making films for 
pt/pd printing (ancient technology, not good) and inkjet films for same 
(borderline OK for pt/pd, not for silver really).  I'm sure people like 
Salgado have more advanced procedures available.  But, it is a good 
question.  My grandchildren will probably ask, what was wi-fi and why 
did grandpa need a separate device of some kind for the internet?  I 
would probably look into dark storage for an inkjet print with 
non-destructive inks.  Just a good letter-sized print will probably 
produce a great wall-sized reproduction 100 years from now.

Ken


On 3/26/2014 5:17 PM, Howard Ritter wrote:
> The more I read and think about the transient nature of digital recording, 
> and the inevitable loss of our digital photos as recording media become 
> obsolete, I wonder about how to preserve my best work. I can personally 
> transfer files from, say, my hard disk to whatever medium replaces it, 
> using wifi in order to avoid obsolescence of connectors etc?at least as 
> long as wifi protocols remain backward-compatible. I know it's sheer 
> vanity to think even my kids and their children would have any interest in 
> seeing pictures from 50 or 100 years, let alone anyone else in the future 
> world, but which of us isn't driven to some extent by vanity?
>
> It seems to me that the best way to back up a digital photo in at least 
> acceptably faithful form would be to print it on film (idea not original 
> with me of course). The most accurate and at the same time most 
> bulletproof way would be to print the R, G, and B components of a digital 
> file each on its own frame of silver-based monochrome film, but that might 
> be over the top except for the most important archival purposes of the 
> most exceptional pictures. I'd think that printing at maximal resolution 
> on a K/F'chrome emulsion (as long as they remain available) or a 
> silver-based K/F'color emulsion would be practical and serve the purpose 
> well. I make the assumption that there will always be a way to convert a 
> film image to the digital du jour. Preserving the emulsions then is its 
> own separate task, but maybe more easily accomplished than preserving a 
> digital file. I could see doing this with the best few hundred of my 
> photos that (IMHO) have some value other than family or temporary 
> significance if the price is reasonable.
>
> Questions: has any LUGger actually done this or heard of its being done? 
> Is anyone making consumer film printers any longer? I remember them from 
> 25 or 30 years ago but a quick Google didn't turn up anything except what 
> looks like industrial stuff for maybe for producing film for movie 
> theaters. Is there a commercial service that will make 35mm film prints of 
> digital files?
>
> ?howard
>
>
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